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His parents Natalie and Stephen tried to keep their son away from football practice to make sure he could recover, but it proved more difficult than they thought due to their son's devotion to his team.

It was not until September that their son was diagnosed with Perthes disease in his left hip - a childhood disorder which affects the head of the femur.

In Perthes disease the blood supply to the growth plate of the bone at the end of the femur becomes inadequate. As a result the bone softens and breaks down.

"The blood supply comes back but it takes years for the bones to grow back," said Natalie.

"He is on crutches at the moment and he is being assigned a wheelchair for when we want to go out on family trips.

"The big thing is that he has had to give up football. He can not do any contact sport, run or jump so the trampoline had to be taken down.

"It has been absolutely devastating but the club has given him a special gift to cheer him up, a Northern Ireland shirt signed by the players, it is going to be framed to go above his bed, pride of place.

Harrison Martin with his new shirt

"We could not believe it when we got it, they went to all that trouble to get it done for him.

"They have said he can come back any time and have been a great support to the family."

Natalie said the diagnosis has changed her son's life but she is forever thankful to his football club for their support throughout.

For now all the family can do is wait to see how Harrison's bone grows back to see if he will ever be able to play football again.

"The doctors told me he will always have chronic pain," said Natalie.

"His dream of playing for Manchester United in my eyes can not happen but in his eyes he would say he will be the next Wayne Rooney.

"He is trying to keep his positive attitude and believes he will still get there one day."